Initiative
Overview Initiative in the Elnare Expanse setting of Dungeons and Dragons operates in a way which more accurately reflects the amount of time required to interact with the environment and take actions in combat. In this alternative system, initiative is rolled at the beginning of each round. Players will decide what Character Actions their characters will take during the current round. Actions, Movement, and some Bonus Actions add dice to the Dice Pool which is rolled to calculate the characters initiative roll for the current round. Rolling Initiative To calculate a characters initiative, the player or dungeon master rolls the Dice Pool for that character and then subtracts the characters Initiative Modifier from the total. The initiative order cycles from the lowest initiative total to the highest initiative total. If the player wishes to change the character's Character Actions for the current turn, they can do so at any time before the start of the characters turn. When a player changes the character actions the character will take they must add half of the characters original initiative(rounded down) to the new initiative total. Character Actions Character Actions is a blanket term which encompasses any action, movement, or general interaction a character will complete on their turn during combat Dice Pool In this alternative initiative system, a character does not roll 1d20 to calculate their initiative, but instead rolls a number of dice dependent upon the character actions they wish to perform on their turn. The die rolled for the characters initiative collectively are called the Dice Pool. See examples below for further clarification. Initiative for Actions in Combat Below is a list of the most common actions taken during combat with along with the initiative dice that are added to the Dice Pool for those actions. Initiative for Spell Casting Spell casting can also add die to a characters initiative pool. For spells with a casting time of 1 action refer to the table below. If a spell has a casting time of 1 bonus action then the spells initiative dice is automatically 1d4. Example Initiative Rolls A Fighter with an initiative modifier of +2, wishes to drink a health potion, move 10', and then make an attack with a long sword using two hands. Drinking a potion is a free action which does not add anything to his initiative. Movement adds 1d6 to the initiative dice pool. The damage dice for attacking with a long sword using two hands is 1d10 so attacking with a long sword using two hands adds 1d10 to the initiative dice pool. So the fighter will calculate his initiative as (1d6 + 1d10) - 2. A Ranger with an initiative modifier of +3 wishes to fire her long bow at the target. Firing a long bow adds 1d8 to her initiative roll, so her initiative will be 1d8 - Initiative Modifier. If she rolls a 6, her initiative will be 3. If she changes her mind during the round and decides that she would like to instead move and then fire her long bow, her new initiative is (1d6 + 1d8) - Initiative Modifier. If she rolls a 2 and a 5, her new initiative modifier will be 4. However, she will need to add half of her initial initiative rounded down to her new total so her new initiative will be 5. __FORCETOC__